On The Night
by Capella Auriga
Summary: Sam and Dean are enroute to a hunt when they run over a hyena that's escaped from a wildlife refuge. Instead of hunting ghosts they end up hunting a dangerous cult that practices Shamanism. Dean becomes obsessed and Sam questions his sanity. Season One.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **Kripke is God. I am not.

**On The Night **

By: Capella Auriga

Rating: T (Language, Violence)

A/N: This is my first foray into the Supernatural fandom, and my first fanfic. This is set in season one, sometime between _Faith _and _Shadows_. The story is centered around Shamanism, as I was watching a documentary on the History channel about it. Then I watched something on PBS about Hyenas. This is what happened. Beta is the lovely Michelle.

Summary: Sam and Dean are enroute to a hunt when they run over a hyena that's escaped from a wildlife refuge. Instead of hunting ghosts they end up hunting a dangerous cult that practices Shamanism. Set in Season One, between _Scarecrow _and _Faith. _

Chapter One: Your Latest Trick

"_I don't know how it happened  
It was faster than the eye could flick  
But not all I can do is hand it to you  
And your latest trick." –_Dire Straits

Lightning flashed across the night sky, illuminating the cacti scattered throughout the desert. Fat raindrops pelted the windshield of the Impala and the wipers worked furiously to keep up as water cascaded down the glass. Dean Winchester carefully navigated the deserted stretch of highway that ran through southern Arizona, vowing to stop at the next available motel. Driving in a monsoon was never a good idea, but he had wanted to make it to Red Hill tonight. Coordinates from Dad always meant that there was an important hunt on the horizon. The coordinates had arrived while he was having breakfast with Sam. Of course, his baby brother was reluctant to go.

He spared a quick glance over, only to discover Sam was still asleep. Dean gripped the steering wheel tighter. He hated the fact that his brother had only agreed to come with him because their hunt in Memphis turned out to be a bust. He insisted on coming to Arizona, but neglected to tell Sam why he wanted to go. _Dad might be there this time. _Dean felt his heart skip a little then, pushed his wishful thinking to the back of his mind. His Father hadn't come when he'd called him in Lawrence. While he would never admit it to Sam, that had hurt. Even more then being sent to New Orleans for a hunt, only to find his Dad had ditched him. He couldn't let himself hope that his father would be in Red Hill. Instead he was determined to focus on the hunt.

His thoughts were abruptly interrupted as a dark shape darted into the road. The Impala swerved as he slammed his foot on the brake.

"Fuck!" he swore. The car swung wildly for a moment and finally came to a complete stop in a patch of prickly pears. Sam let out a string of curses at the rude awakening.

"What the hell, Dean?" he rubbed the side of his head as he glared at him.

"Did you see that?" Dean queried, peering into the desert.

"_I _didn't see anything, Dude. I _was _asleep." Sam groused.

Rolling his eyes, he shoved the door open.

"What are you doing?"

"I think I hit a coyote. I'm gonna make sure it didn't do any damage to my baby."

Dean slid off the seat, pulling his leather jacket further over his head in an attempt to shield himself from the rain. He shut the car door behind him and carefully negotiated his way around the sharp needles protruding from the cacti, grimacing as he spotted the blood. There were paw prints scattered around the Impala. A high-pitched shriek sliced through the night, disturbing the steady rhythm of the rain. Dean spun on his heels to find a pair of yellow eyes staring back at him. They leapt at him from the darkness. No time to react. For a moment, there was a burning pain. Then nothing.

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Running his hands along the heaters for warmth, Sam sighed in annoyance. Leave it to Dean to run over the local wildlife and then insist on checking out his precious car during a fucking rainstorm. The headlights cut through the gloomy night and he watched as his older brother made his way around the Impala. He glared at his back, still pissed that Dean had acquiesced to their Father's command to come to Arizona. Their hunt in Memphis might have turned out to be a group of teenagers playing a hoax on unwitting tourists, but that didn't mean they should have to just drop everything so they could follow Dad's orders. Shaking his head in contempt, Sam knew things would never change with their Dad. He said jump, and Dean asked how high. Dad's perfect little soldier. Sam was working on that. Trying to make his brother understand that it was all right to think for himself once in a while.

Looking up again, Sam frowned when he didn't see Dean standing in the headlights anymore. He leaned forward; thinking perhaps his brother was attempting to scrape coyote off the fender. A few seconds passed and there was still no sign of Dean. Annoyance turned to worry, wondering if Dean possibly could have slipped on the wet road. Grabbing a 9mm from the glove department, Sam shoved open the door with mild frustration and softly hissed as cold raindrops hit his face.

"Dean!"

Another flash of lightening danced across the sky, briefly giving him a glimpse of the Sonoran Desert. The distinct sound of laughter filled the air, making the hair on the back of his neck rise. Silently he walked around to the front of the Impala. Dean was unconscious, sprawled out on the cold sand. Blood ran down his face. Sam gasped in shock when he saw what was standing on his brother's chest--a hyena. Yellow eyes turned to stare at him. Without hesitation he took aim and pulled the trigger. The beast yelped, leapt off his brother and fled into the desert, leaving a trail of blood behind it.

"Dean!" he called.

He dropped down to the ground, wincing as he began to assess his brother's injury. There were several deep gashes on the left side of his face. Dean's right arm lay at an odd angle, a sure sign that it was broken. Pressing his fingers into the side of his older brother's neck, he found a pulse that was slow but steady.

"Dean, wake up." Sam ground out, gently shaking him. There was no response.

Sam brought Dean into an upright position, cradling him against his chest. He needed to get his brother out of the rain, and drive to the nearest hospital. With a lot of effort, he managed to drag Dean back to the Impala. Sam propped him up against the door and suddenly realized that he had no idea where the nearest hospital even was. Knowing that Dean was probably going to kill him for it, he brought out his cell phone and flipped it open. His fingers hovered over the keypad for a moment.

"What in _hell _is a hyena doing in fucking Arizona?" he asked, suddenly wishing for some smart-ass rejoinder from Dean. Letting out a sigh of resignation, he dialed 9-1-1.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two: Follow Me Home 

"_I have passed my time alone  
When the church bells rung  
I stayed out on the tower  
In a dying sun."_ **–**Dire Straits

_The sky was a sharp, cloudless blue and the yellow grass swayed in the gentle breeze. With the wind came the pungent smell of blood and death. A once lively village was now nothing more than ash and timber. Dozens of bodies littered the ground. Left where they had fallen, men, women, and children. Their blood seeping into the dark soil, still fresh. Testament that these men who had carried out this attack were skilled at killing. The carnage was quick, clean, and efficient. Tire tracks wove in and out of the small hamlet. Their footprints told him almost everything about them. How tall they were, how much they weighed, their level of skill with a machete, their numbers. The only thing they could not tell him was why these men had taken the villager's eyes. The corpses lay on the soft ground, their eyeless faces staring at him, and a cold shiver crept up his spine. _

Dean came awake with a start, the dream making him cry out. A strong hand rested on his chest. It kept him from bolting into an upright position. He glared at the hand, groaning when a sharp pain lanced through his head, letting him know that sitting up was _not _a good idea at the moment. His body ached terribly. Most notably his head, which felt like it was in the middle of conducting Beetoven's Symphony No. 8.

"Want some water?" Sam removed his hand, reaching for the little Styrofoam cup with a plastic bending straw inside it.

Finally opening his eyes, Dean grimaced at the painfully white hospital walls that greeted him. The strong smell of antiseptic filled the air. His lovely hospital gown was entangled in the stark white sheets that twisted around him and an IV line ran from his arm.

"Here," Sam said, handing him the cup.

"What happened?" He croaks, letting the cool water sooth his parched throat.

Sam sighs. "You were attacked by a hyena."

The beast's yellow eyes and brown fur flashed before him. He threw a confused look at his brother, wondering what a hyena was doing in fucking _Arizona._

"Cops say there's some kind of wild animal compound a few miles from here. The owners have all kinds of animals from Africa. They're biologists or something." Sam informed him. "How are you feeling?"

"How do you _think _I'm feeling?" he griped.

Sam made a face. "It's that not that strange what happened, considering the kind of things we deal with on a daily basis."

"If I'd have stayed in the car, I would have been fine. I threatened its territory. That's why it attacked me." He muttered, bringing the heel of his hand to his forehead, feeling the thick bandage that was wrapped around his head. Sam squinted, staring at him as if he'd just grown a second head.

"How do you know that?"

Dean shrugged, wishing for more drugs. "I must have seen it on the Discovery Channel."

"_You _watch the Discovery Channel?" Sam asked, incredulous. Damn, he hadn't meant to let that information slip out. The symphony suddenly grew louder, the pain became more intense, and he let out a small groan. "Dean, are you ok?" Sam's worried face floated in front of him, and he was forced to close his eyes as his stomach flipped, making him nauseous.

"I'll call the nurse," Sam announced, "she'll give you some more pain meds."

Oddly, he sounded far away, and he had to strain to hear him. Dean was about to tell him that, but decided he was too tired to bother. The last thing he heard before he drifted off was the sound of Sam repeatedly pressing down on the nurse's button.

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Troy, Arizona was everything one would expect in a small southwestern community. Adobe style houses lined the streets. The population numbered somewhere around six thousand and claimed to house the world's largest Tarantula. Near the center of town there was a cluster of shops that sold art, jewelry, and souvenirs, and cost tourists an arm and leg to buy them. Troy had eight churches, two schools, ten Mexican restaurants, five bars, and a medical center.

The one thing that _did _stand out about the town was the number of people who'd gone missing in the last month. For the first time in six weeks, Adrian Chang was beginning to think he'd found them---the _Hayawani_. He knew they were here. He could _feel _it, wondered if they knew he was here. Trailing them without Mason was probably a stupid thing to do, but he hadn't heard from his friend in over a week. It was how his partner operated. Sometimes Mason wanted his help, and sometimes Mason disappeared for weeks at a time.

Adrian donned the white coat and read the nametag. _Doctor Goode. _He was only twenty-five and hoped he could pull off being a resident. Skimming over the stolen chart, he learned that his patient's name was Doug Clifford, like the drummer in Creedence. Mr. Clifford had been driving west on route 80 when he accidentally hit a hyena. The beast attacked and left him with a nasty concussion. The case had _Hayawani _written all over it—and the fact it was an _African _animal didn't escape his notice. They were definitely in the area. He just had to find them, and interrogating the _Hayawani's _latest victim was, in his opinion, the best place to start.

Stepping quietly into the room, the first thing he saw was a tall, lanky guy with dark hair sitting in an uncomfortable looking chair, intently staring at the prone figure on the bed.

"I'm Dr. Goode," he said lamely, disappointed that Clifford was asleep. He walked around to the other side of the bed, placing the stethoscope against his fake patient's chest. "And you are?"

"I'm his brother, Sam." His eyes focused on him, and Adrian hoped he was buying the act. "He was in a lot of pain."

"Well, that's not surprising. He has a major concussion. It's not uncommon." He continued checking Clifford out. "I heard he was attacked by a hyena." What he didn't say was that he'd heard it from his police scanner. "That's a little unusual. Where did it come from?"

Sam threw him an odd look, and Adrian got the feeling that somehow he had slipped up. "There's a wild animal refuge a few miles outside of town. Cops said it came from there."

"Ah. I should have guessed. Just moved here." He offered, trying to cover his tracks. Mason was so much better at this. "We'll have to watch for infection, but your brother should be just fine." It was time to make his escape. With remarkable speed he replaced the stethoscope back around his neck, smiled, and informed him that he would be by later to check up on his brother. Adrian made his way back to the laundry room and tossed the coat back into the corner, deciding he was never trying that again. As he turned to sneak out the back door, he was thrown against the wall, strong hands trapping his arms.

Sam was behind him, pressing a long, curved knife to his throat. "Who are you?"

A/N: Thanks to those of you who reviewed, even though was stupid and made me upload a new story, so they got erased. GRR.


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